In a shocking incident, a 40-year-old Polish man has been apprehended by the Arona Local Police as the suspect of both gender-based violence and attempted murder. This follows his horrifying attempt to set his former partner, a 49-year-old Spanish woman, on fire in an abandoned park where they and other homeless individuals were residing.
The incident unfolded in the early hours of last Thursday when the man tracked down his ex at Parque Demon on Calle Andrómeda in Ten-Bel, in the south of Tenerife, and proceeded to set fire to the area where she was sleeping.
The flames rapidly spread through accumulated rubbish, catching the attention of a security guard from a nearby residential complex, who promptly called 1-1-2. Police and a team of firefighters rushed to the scene and managed to extinguish three separate fires limiting the damage, and confirming that the woman was safe and unharmed.
It is worth noting that the same man had already been arrested on September 28th for assaulting the same woman on Avenida José Antonio Tavío in Costa del Silencio, and was released on bail after being reported for gender-based violence. Since then, he had repeatedly threatened to burn all her belongings and kill her.
Following the park incident, the Local Police launched an operation to locate the suspect, and found him approximately 300 metres away from the scene of the fire, with soot-stained hands and a cigarette lighter in his possession.
According to police reports, the man confessed to his actions when questioned by officers and has been transported to the holding cells at the main Guardia Civil station in Playa de las Americas, awaiting judicial proceedings.
